Abstract: An apparatus for measuring the acceleration of an engine for use in a race car for matching the engine to the car for a particular racetrack and includes an engine test stand having a base and an inertia shaft mounted thereto coupled to a gear box. The test stand includes an engine cart for mounting the engine thereto and positionable for coupling the engine to the gear box and has a plurality of selectively engageable inertia wheels attached thereto. The method includes mounting an engine to the engine cart and positioning the engine cart for alignment with the gear box coupling the engine to the gear box. The engine is then accelerated through a predetermined RPM range so that measurements of elapsed time at preselected RPMs can be determined and a selected load to simulate a racetrack length.